THE SHEEP INDUSTRY

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 71, Issue 1, 16 July 1945, Page 47

THE SHEEP INDUSTRY

THE first sheep to reach New Zealand were two Merinos landed by Captain Cook in Marlborough Province in 1773. These were the sole survivors of a small shipment he had brought with him from Cape Colony, but they died soon after being landed. In 1814 the Rev. Samuel Marsden brought over a few Merinos to the Bay of Islands from New South Wales, but there is no record of their permanent survival. It seems that it was not until 1834 that sheep became permanently established in New Zealand, when John Bell Wright brought 102 Merinos from Sydney and landed them on Mana Island, some 20 miles north of Wellington off the west coast of the North Island.

By

J. E. DUNCAN,

Wool Supervisor,

Livestock Division, Wellington.

IN the early 1840’s sheep stations were established in Canterbury and Wellington Provinces, and soon afterwards in other districts. These first sheep stations were stocked entirely with' Merinos, but it was soon found that the wetter climate of parts of the North Island did not suit this breed so well as many districts of the South Island, where they became firmly established in the high country, which has remained their stronghold ever since. During the ’so’s and ’6o’s of last century a number of English breeds of sheep were imported, notably Southdowns, English and Border Leicesters, Romneys and Lincolns. As time went on other breeds were introduced, but some of these, such as the Cotswolds and Hampshire Downs,, did not persist for long. An outstanding event of this period was the evolution of New Zealand’s own breedthe Corriedale —which finally emerged as a great new dual-purpose breed towards the end of last century. It traces its ancestry to the crossing of three other breedsthe Merino, the Lincoln, and the English Leicester.

After Refrigeration Until 1882, the year which marked the successful introduction of re-

frigeration as far as New Zealand was concerned, the Merino and its crosses were predominant, because the only sheep products of any importance for export were wool and a little tallow obtained by boiling down carcasses. With the advent of refrigeration, however, an entirely new field was opened up, and the British breeds of sheep began to come into their own. Considerable cross-breeding with the Merino took place, and it was not very long before this breed began to decline in numbers and gradually became confined to the higher and poorer country of the South Island, where it has remained ever since. Before long the Merino, as a purebred, was almost completely ousted from the North Island, its place being usurped by the British long-wool breeds, which were more suited to the climate and conditions. Considerable numbers of Lincolns and English Leicesters were run on the new “bushburn” country (that is, country which had been cleared of forest by felling and burning, leaving many blackened stumps and logs), as their wool stood up well to the rough conditions. These in their turn were gradually

displaced by the Romney, and today the flock sheep of the North Island

are nearly all crossbreds of the Rom-ney-Lincoln type, with Romney blood

very much predominating. The present position will be considered more fully in a later paragraph. In the South Island the position was more complicated. As the Merinos retreated to the foothills of the Southern Alps it was found that the half-bred (first cross of Merino with a long-wool) and the Corriedale could profitably replace it in much of the better hill country. Lower down again three-quarter-breds (that is, the result of crossing half-bred and longwool) and the long-woolled British breeds were found to be more profitable. It is significant, however, that in the South Island Merino blood in various degrees of dilution continued to play an important part in the flock structure, whereas in the North Island the Romney has become by far the most important influence. Of New Zealand’s total area of some 66 million acres, almost 43 million are in occupation for primary production. Lines of demarcation between different types of farming are not always very distinct, but approximately 37 million acres are devoted to pastoral production. Of this total, it has been estimated that about five

million acres, in round figures, are used for 1 dairy farming, leaving approximately 32 million acres, or nearly half pf ; New Zealand’s total land area, for sheep farming. It must be emphasised, also, that much of this land is unsuitable for any other of our present types of farming, so the important role of the sheep in our farming economy is at once obvious. This is further : borne out when we compare the value of the products from the sheep-farming industry with those' from , other industries. In Table I, -..for the year 1941-42 (the latest complete statistics available), are shown the values of production of a number of items.

It will be seen that the sheep industry again contributes the largest percentage of any of the groups enumerated.

TABLE I—VALUES OF PRODUCTION, 1941-42. New Zealand Official Year Book, 1943, p. 632. (In £ millions (N.Z.) ) 1 ' M M . m » d d r a d t ■ £ 1 S v:' a .S 2 d 5 5 S’ „ s .'b 55 S’S TO Cv c 3 Q F» © —i cS 'h ’S S ‘h .S S o p< >» * S'® » o SS *3 .d ■ © ■ .s . O 3 M g -g ■■=3 S : 5 So rd 03 . " a •” O 03 5 s £ < co .. . P o S . ft Eh 11.2 42.3 40.0 3.16 5.1 0.6 4.5 41.2 13.4 163.5

Distribution. of Sheep

As will be seen • from the maps accompanying this article the density distribution of sheep varies greatly from one part of the country to another. This distribution is governed to a large extent by climate and topography, although other factors have a lesser influence. The sheep is - a hardy and adaptable animal, but does not thrive where the rainfall is ... excessive. It can tolerate a wide range of temperatures, but New Zealand’s generally temperate climate is almost the ideal for sheep. Topography has far less of a restricting influence on the sheep than on. the dairy cow, and it is only on the steepest and highest ranges that we find no sheep at all. At the other end of the scale, while many breeds of sheep thrive exceedingly on the best pastures, they tend in general to be ousted from this land by dairying, which usually shows a higher rate of net profit per acre.

As would be expected from the great variations in density of the sheep population, the country on which they are run varies greatly in its carrying capacity. At the one extreme we have some of the high

country in the South Island covered with sparse native grasses and tussock, which carries about one sheep to 10 acres, while at the other we have improved pastures, heavily topdressed, carrying six -or more sheep to, the acre. In a similar way the value of sheep farming land varies between perhaps 2s. 6d. and £SO per acre. The latest detailed figures available (April 30, 1944) show that there are 32,200,298 sheep and 32,973 sheep owners in the Dominion, so that the aver-

age size of the flock is very close to 1,000. This figure has been relatively stable since the beginning of the century, but further back flocks tended , L larger s . ' , The reduction in the average size of flock has been brought about to a large extent by the subdivision of many- of the large estates which were a typical feature of the pioneering days, and by the inclusion of the small flocks which are often run on dairy

farms today. Table 2 gives a concise picture of the size of flocks, and their distribution. Certain districts tend to have larger, flocks than others. For example, in the Poverty Bay-Hawke’s Bay district about 50 per cent, of the flocks are of 1,000 and over, whereas in the Marl-borough-Nelson-Westland district only

some 14 per cent, of the flocks are of 1,000 and over. Table 3 gives a further comparison of districts. The sheep included under “other breeds” comprise mostly such types as Cheviot, Suffolk, Dorset Horn, etc., but they are very much in the minority and are of no economic importance at present.

DISTRIBUTION OF SHEEP, SOUTH ISLAND: Each dot represents 5,000 sheep.

The salient feature of the above table is the important part played by the Romney in our flocks today, constituting as it does 18 per cent, of our flocks as a recognised . breed, and being at the same time the predominating strain in the 70 per cent, of our sheep coming under the crossbred category. > Table. 5 completes the picture by giving the proportions of the different classes of sheep. This table shows that the number and proportion of breeding ewes have been steadily increasing, due in the main to more intensive farming methods, greater use of fertilisers, and better pastures. This is important, because the higher this proportion the more profitable is the flock likely to be, and also because, with a high proportion of breeding ewes, the powers of recuperation or deliberate increase of the flock are enhanced. SYSTEMS OF SHEEP FARMING. New Zealand has a great diversity of types of sheep farms, ranging from those which produce wool as practically their sole product to those which are capable of fattening for sale all stock carried. Between these are many’ intermediate gradations, and as the Dominion covers a fair range of latitude (approximately 1,000 miles from north to south), and as topographical features and efficiency of management also vary considerably, it is possible to find very many in-

dividual differences even between adjacent farms. For the sake of simplicity and brevity it is proposed to make an arbitrary classification into five groups: — . (a) High hill-country farms. (b) Lower hill-country farms. ' (c) Fattening farms. (d) Intermediate types. (e) Stud farms. (a) High Hill-country Farms High. hill-country farms are mainly to be found in the South Island, where they cover approximately ten million acres, but carry an average of perhaps one sheep to every four acres. This low carrying capacity is due to the steepness and generally low fertility of this type of country, which is in the main a belt running along the eastern slopes of the Southern Alps, and covered principally with native tussock grasses. In this area rabbits and erosion are problems, and heavy snowfalls cause high mortality among the flocks every few years. For the higher sections of this region Merinos are the only sheep which can stand up to the rigorous conditions. A habit peculiar to the breed is to climb to the highest peak and feed systematically down to lower levels. This habit has a distinct value, because it means that the sheep have eaten out these areas by the time they have to .be moved to lower country before the heavy snowfalls arrive.

The farmer derives practically all his income from wool, and for this reason pays much attention to the selection of rams and the classing of his clip. He aims to carry as high a proportion of wethers in his flock as possible, these being more hardy and producing a heavier and better fleece than breeding ewes. The latter are kept in just sufficient numbers to breed the necessary flock replacements, and little surplus store stock is available for sale. After a heavy snow loss it may take years to rebuild the flock to its original level, as lambing percentages on this class of country are very low. On some of the easier portions half-bred sheep are run, usually a Lincoln-Merino or a Leicester-Merino cross. In these cases there will be a small number of store stock available for disposal each year, mainly to other highcountry runs.

This type of farming is of a highly specialised nature and really lies in a class by itself, bearing very little relationship to any of the other types. The permanent staff employed on a high-country run is small and the handling of the sheep kept to the minimum. In the North Island this type of farming is confined to two small areas, on the high . central plateau and on some of the high backcountry in the Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay area.

Rams Of Leading Breeds

(b) Lower Hill-country Farms

Lower hill-country farms form a very important section of- our sheep farming in both North and South Islands, because of the large aggregate area covered and because they are the source of supply of stock to the lowcountry fattening farms. It is impossible to give an accurate figure for the area involved, as there is no clear-cut line of demarcation between this group and the fattening farms, but the two groups together probably account for at least 20 million acres. On the hill-country farms climate, topography, and natural fertility again vary widely, but on an average this class of country carries between one and two sheep to the acre.

In the North Island most of this land was originally covered in bush, which was felled and afterwards burnt. Usually many blackened logs and stumps remained for years afterwards, but the initial fertility of the soil, thanks to , the liberal coating of ash, was high, and good strikes of surface-sown grass were obtained. From that time onwards a gradual decline in fertility and carrying capacity set in on most of this country, with a good deal of trouble from slips and erosion on the steeper areas. On other portions the encroachment of scrub, fern, and second growth was relatively rapid where this . was not rigorously kept in check. It has not been possible to carry out much topdressing on most of these farms, the steepness of the land and difficulty of access militating against it.

In the North Island the sheep carried are almost invariably crossbreds, with a higher proportion of breeding ewes on the better areas, and more wethers, dry sheep, and cattle on the poorer sections. Cattle are employed as the only practical method for crushing and eating off the roughage, fern, etc., which is left by the sheep and would otherwise increase rapidly. They are really regarded as agricultural implements, and the farmer does not expect to make much profit from them. The favourite types are Aberdeen Angus, Hereford, and crosses between these breeds. They are usually bred on the property.

The stock carried consists of rams, breeding ewes, ewe hoggets (for replacements), and a varying proportion of wethers, according to the class of country. Rams are the only stock bought in, and the farmer pays careful attention to their wool and constitution, both of which influence his returns. The products of this type of farm are wool, some store lambs, and a few fat wethers and store cattle, and last, but not least, an annual draft of cast for-age ewes. These latter are in ready demand on the fattening farms, where they are used for another year or two for mating with

Down rams for fat lamb production. As the farm is self-supporting for everything but rams,' a careful policy of selection and culling of ewes must be followed if the general quality of the stock is to be maintained or improved. The ewes are culled at the two-tooth stage on their wool, and the following season as four-tooths in the light of their breeding performance. In general, little or nothing in the way of supplementary crops for winter feeding is grown on this type of farm.

The corresponding type of property in the South Island differs in a number of ways. In the first place, it was probably developed from native tussock areas instead of standing bush, and in general the rainfall is a good deal lighter than in the North Island. The type of sheep run is usually either half-bred or Corriedale, with a proportion of three-quarter-bred on the lower country. Pastures tend to deteriorate and are of a temporary nature, having to be ploughed up at intervals, a crop taken off, and then resown in grass. This fits in with the necessity for the provision of special crops, such as swedes dr turnips, for winter feed, the winters being longer and more severe than in the North Island. Few, if any, cattle are carried, because second growth is not such a problem, but in some areas rabbits are troublesome and have to be constantly kept in check. The general principles of stocking and the disposal of products are similar to those of the North Island properties.

(c) Fattening Farms . The land on which this type of

farming is carried out is of high fertility, either natural or induced by topdressing, and may be used either for fattening stock or dairying, according to the fancy of the owner or the net returns from the different products. The country is generally low-lying, varying from flat to undulating. Climate varies from re-, latively warm and moist in parts of the North Island to fairly cold and dry in the South Island. This influences the type of feed produced, for in the North it is common to rely almost entirely on grass from improved pastures sown in English grasses and clovers and regularly topdressed, while in the South it .is essential to grow special crops for fattening. The average range in carrying capacity is from three to six sheep per acre.

Ewes are nearly always bought in and sold again fat after producing lambs for either one, or in some cases two, seasons. In the North Island the cast-for-age (or in some cases younger) ewes from hill-country farms are bought either by private treaty, or more commonly at the annual ewe fairs in January and February. Rams may be acquired by similar methods. Crossbred (predominantly Romney) ewes are almost invariably the rule,

and although other crosses with Suffolks, Ryelands, Dorset Horns, etc., have been tried, these ewes are now nearly always mated with a Southdown ram. . This results in the most acceptable type of lamb carcass, which reaches finished and wellbalanced proportions at an early age and at light weights. Wherever and whenever possible these lambs are milk -fattened, but occasionally a crop such as rape is grown to fatten off the tail end of the lambs. The extra flush of spring grass growth is often controlled by cattle, which are also fattened, and, if of suitable type, can be disposed of in the autumn as chilled beef, the most profitable way to quit them. On some properties wethers may also be bought in and fattened for sale. Lambing percentages are usually high, averaging in the vicinity of 110 to 120 per cent., and lambs are sold on the farm direct to representatives of the freezing companies. •' ‘

In the South Island conditions in every way are a good deal more varied. In some areas prolonged dry spells make irrigation and the provision of special crops, such as lucerne, necessary. The ewes available from the hill country are also more mixed in type, x and may be of Merino, halfbred, Corriedale, crossbred, or three-quarter-bred strains. Any or all or these may be found in certain areas, e.g., parts of Canterbury, where, in addition to the local ewes, large drafts of crossbreds are imported annually from the East Coast of the North Island. The choice of ram also varies. The English Leicester was the’first choice, and the sire of the original Canterbury lamb, but today the Southdown is tending to replace it, particularly for crossing with the coarser-woolled ewes, while in Southland the Border Leicester is also popular. Considerable areas ,of special crops, such as rape, for lamb fattening have to be grown, and roots, hay, chaff, etc., have to be provided for winter feed for the ewes. On some properties wethers and/or cattle may be bought for fattening, but this is not so common in the North Island. In general, lambing percentages are lower and lines of fat lambs produced are not so even or so valuable, pound for pound, .as in the North Island.

(d) Intermediate Types

There are various intermediate gradations between the types mentioned previously, and in some cases a large holding may combine hill country and lower fattening land on the one property, the whole being operated as a self-contained unit. Sheep are also to be found on dairy farms, where it is frequently the practice to buy in-lamb ewes, or cull lambs and hoggets, or some of each,

to act as followers to the dairy herd. These sheep usually do very well under the conditions obtaining on the typical dairy farm. On other farms, where only a portion of the area is suitable for cows, sheep may provide quite an important contribution to the income. To a small extent in the North Island, and quite frequently in the South, sheep are bought in . and fattened on agricultural farms, where they fit into the scheme of things by feeding on such crops as swedes and rape, which are often included in the rotation. There are no recent figures available on the area of these mixed farms, but for the year 1929-30 mixed dairying and sheep farming represented 7 per cent., and mixed agricultural and sheep farming 5 per cent, of the total area, of occupied holdings of the Dominion. It is certain that since these figures were compiled the percentage of mixed dairying and sheep farms must have increased, but it is impossible to say by how much. There is not likely to have been any great alteration in the second group.

(e) Stud Farms

i Although this group is neither large in area nor in number, it is nevertheless of great importance to the industry, for the stud farm is the fountain head for the supply of rams, and improvements in quality at this point are transmitted over a period through most other flocks. Stud farms are highly . specialised, and are nearly always situated on first-class land. One reason is that only with the best environment and nutrition can an animal develop to the full its inherited qualities. This situation is not an unmixed blessing, as many rams have to go straight from these almost pampered conditions to hard hill country.

The stud breeder has several markets for his sheep. In normal times New Zealand does quite a valuable export trade in high-quality stud sheep. Stock have been sent to every major sheep-farming country hi the world, and have fetched on an average very satisfactory prices. The top stud masters sell high-quality rams to other stud breeders and a few direct to hill sheep stations. All stud breeders sell flock rams as an important section of their business, although it does not follow that all rams used on the country’s flocks are registered studs. In fact, most rams used probably come under the cate-

gory, “sheep of a distinctive breed but not entered in Flock Book” — table 4. This table also gives' the proportion of the different breeds in our stud flocks today. It appears that the most promising avenue for the improvement of our flocks in the future lies in the use of better rams, intelligently used, so . the stud stock farms have a great opportunity and a great responsibility.

In Great Britain there are nearly 40 distinctive breeds of sheep which have been evolved, many of them over a long period, to meet particular local conditions. In New Zealand, on the other hand, there are fewer than a dozen breeds which play an important part in our sheep-farming economy (see table 4). It might truthfully be said that in the North Island only two breeds, the Romney and the Southdown, are of major importance, and of these the Romney is distributed over a surprisingly wide range of topographical and climatic conditions. It is not surprising, therefore, that there are today not only a number of distinct types within the breed, but also that the breed as a whole has diverged considerably from its English Romney Marsh prototype. The modern New Zealand Romney is low set, lighter boned, and better fleeced than its English counterpart. In general in New Zealand the British breeds have been deliberately developed along rather different lines from the stud flocks. of Britain, the main differences apparent today being that the Dominion’s sheep are lower set and have more even and denser fleeces.. It is considered by some that in the long run New Zealand might be well advised to employ a greater variety of breeds to suit her widely varying conditions, as Britain has done, rather than to concentrate as at present on virtually a single breed.

Bushel Weights in Common Use No. bushels per sack. Barley .. 50lt. reckoned to the bushel a Beans .. 651 b. ” ” ” ” 3 Bran or Pollard 201 b. ” ” ” ” 7to 10 Maize .. 561 b. ” ” ” ” 31 Oats .. 401 b. ” ” ” ” 4 Peas .. 601 b. ” ” ” ” 3| Ryecorn 541 b. ” ” ” ” 3| Wheat 601 b. ” ” ” ” 3 Ryegrass 201 b. ” ” ” ” 6 When any of the above grains are ground to a feed meal the bulk is thereby greatly increased and the reckoned bushel weight considerably decreased.

ANNUAL SHEEP RETURNS, 1944. Owners of Sheep Owning 1 Total numbers of 1 o S' 201-500. 5011,000 1,0012,500. 2,5015,000. 5,0017,500. 7,50110,000. 10,001[20,000. Si . >| Owners 3°| of land Sheep Owners of Sheep Sheep. Of! ce 1 Sheep. North Island South Island 3,436 3,914 3,502 3,970 3,616 4,156 4,121 3,549 1,298 704 281 136 104 50 89 32 7 |' 16,454 | 18,899,656 8 | 16,519 14,300,642 • • 3,502 3,970 3,616 4,156 4,121 3,549 1,298 704 281 136 104 50 89 32 7 1* 16,454 8 16,519 :l ■ • 1 18,899,656 14,300,642 Totals Dominion : 1 7,350 || 7,472 1 7,472 7,772 | 7,670 7,772 |J 7,670 2,002 2,002 417 417 154 154 121 1 1 121 15 | 32,973 | 33,200,298 ■1 1 15 ,| 32,973 | 33,200,298 J 1

TABLE SIZES OF FLOCKS.

t “A. and. P. Production”; Department of Agriculture Lambing Estimates; Department of Agriculture Lambing Estimates; and J. E. Duncan. 1 No. of Total . Sheep Estimated Dairy Predomin- : Area shorn j Lambing Cows in 1 ating shorn. occupied per 1000 | PercentMilk Breed (s) District. 1 No. of Sheep [ shorn. Total Area occupied , (Acres). Sheep shorn per 1000 | acres. | Estimated Lambing Percentage. Dairy Cows in j Milk per 100 j Sheep shorn. | Predominating Breed (s) of Sheep. —— — — 1,163,054 3,097,253 376 94 31.7 r . ■ Romney North Auckland 2,788,623 4,708,887 592 91 21.0 Auckland 2,192,336 1,993,995 1,099 ’ 83 2.1 Gisborne 4,011,783 2,749,169 1,459 86 1.4 Hawke’s Bay '880'180 1,355,720 . 649 92 25.8 Taranaki ....... 6,630,223 1,004,317 . 5,159,430 1,285 86 3.4 J-bred & Merino Wellington Marlborough ..... 441 73 1.8 Nelson 394,196 1,167,820 337 78 7.8 Romney Westland _ 74,165 4,399,718 963,077 77 104 16.5 i-bred & Canterbury Corriedale 394,196 1,167,820 337 78 7.8 • Romney Westland 74,165 Canterbury 4,399,718 963,077 8,110,012 77 543 104 , 86 16.5 1.4 J-bred & Oorriedale Otago 3,401,415 8,117,044 419 86 1.1 Romney & J-bred Southland ....... 2,696,321 3,258,613 827 103 2.2 Romney Totals, 29,636,331 42,958,555 690 Dominion | 83 5.8 Romney. 29,636,331 42,958,555 690 1 88 | 5.8 Romney. Dominion

TABLE 3.—COMPARISON OF DISTRICTS, f

- Name of Breed. 1 Stud Sheep | entered in Flock Book. Per cent. Distinctive I breeds but | not entered in Flock 1 1 Book ' Per Percent. 1 Total number. Total percent. centage. Distinctive ! breeds but | not entered in Flock I Book £ Per cent. 1 Total | number. Total percentage. 19,926 0.06 787,546 ] 2.37 807,472 3,274 40,300 271,827 5,967,153 42,050 12,651 28,995 13,848 3,859 769 ' 0.06 787,546 2.37 807,472 40,300 5,967,153 42,050 28,995 3,859 391,847 1,225,490 2,262,210 12,397 11,083 22,407,342 2.43 0.12 17.97 0.13 0.09 0.01 1.18 3.69 6.82 0.04 0.03 67.49 Lincoln 3,274 0.01 37,026 0.11 271,827 0.82 37,026 5,695,326 0.11 17.16 Border Leicester .... 12,651 English-Leicester .... 13,848 SIKf nvSsiVii VA - - 769 0.82 5,695,326 17.16 Border Leicester .... 0.04 English Leicester .... 0,04 0.04 0,04 0.00 29,399 15,147 3,190 0.09 0.05 ' 0.01 flnnflirln'WTI 155,681 43,877 5,904 7,866 3,191 — 0.47 236,166 0.71 Cornedale • 0.13 0.13 1,181,613 1,181,613 3.56 3.56 ■RnH-hre.d .......... 0.02 2,256,306 6.80 0.02 4,531 0.01 Other breeds • 0.01 ■ 7,892 0.02 Crossbreds and others .. Grand Total .... .. ■ — — 538,814 | 1.62 10,254,142 | 30.89 1 33,200,298 |100.00 1100.00

TABLE 4.—DISTRIBUTION OF BREEDS, 1944.

Year. STUD SHEEP. . Earns. Breeding Ewes. 1 Dry ,! Ewes. . Lambs. Total Stud Sheep. 1900 1905 1910 1915 1920 1925 1930 , 1935 ' 1940 1944 7,985 8,333 15,068 16,084 13,553 12,400 14,248 j 11,249 12,273 1 ‘ 13,524: 182,255 192,364 227,187 237,717 154,516 184,774 244,480 231,605 262,467 301,283 ■ ■ 15,047 10,866 13.943 17,341 9,803 7,867 7,884 7,292 ' 5,939 6,667 123,145 120,649 / 160,234 176.556 109,454 131,485 174,862 169,041 188.556 217,340 518,377 552,985 706,933 447,698 287,326 336,496 441,474 419.187 469,235 538,814 Year. ' • OTHER SHEEP. ' Rams. Wethers. Breeding Ewes. Dry Ewes; Lambs. | Grand Total Stud and Flock Sheep. ' 1900 1905 1910, 1915 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 1944 189,945 . 220,773 290,501 299,167 293,068 343,179 434,369 459,821 528,847 530,459 3,528,799 2,771,872 3,167,082 3,270,221 3,901,742 3,063,663 3,367,916 2,481,354 2,434,586 2,606,105 9,074,799 9,886,820 12,288,193 12,377,624 11,569,675 13,530,479 17,319,695 17,580,812 19,465,190 20,248,433 1,079,524 698,512 1,194,570 1,365,119 1,824,194 875,889 1,069,788 980,773 959,611 1,086,625 5,153,696 5,220,686 6,912,842 7,141,592 6,317,738 6,398,239 8,208,045 7,154,807 7,205,406 8,189,862 19,355,195 19,130,875 24,269,620 24,901,421 23,919,970 24,547,955 30,841,287 29,076,754 31,062,875 33,200,298 ,

TABLE S—SHEEP POPULATION.